2024-12-31-accounts

Annual Reports and

Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council of Willingdon For the year ended 31[st] December 2024

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Aims and Purposes

The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the parish priest, Fr Adam Ransom, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It is also specifically responsible for their respective church building and the church hall.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling the whole community to find faith in Jesus Christ and to worship him at church. The PCC along with the priest-in-charge, maintain an overview of the worshipping life of the parish. All our services aim to put our faith into practice through music, prayer, scripture, and sacrament.

In obedience to God’s Mission, we seek to help ordinary people in the parish live out their faith. We encourage worship and prayer, increasing understanding of scripture and deepening relationships with Jesus. We seek to provide pastoral care to those in the church and wider parish community. We hope to reach others through missional and evangelistic activity.

We are committed to encourage generous giving through our stewardship schemes and through raising funds by trading in our hall.

Achievements and Performance

Worship and Prayer

Throughout the year we held regular Sunday and weekday worship at the parish church and this was predominantly eucharistic following the liturgical seasons of the Christian year.

We took 12 baptisms, 1 wedding and 26 funerals during the year.

We also held special services such as our Taizé eucharists and a pet blessing service.

Our work as Church on the Trees continued to serve the community there and thanks must be given to the volunteers who have made the Tuesday café and worship and all other offerings possible. Particularly successful was our Community Carols service and we hope to continue to connect with the wider Trees community in ways such as this going forward.

The Church and Hall

In order to serve the community and to raise funds to meet our financial obligations we rely on our church and hall buildings to be maintained to a good state of repair. During the year of 2024 our Churchwarden has been instrumental in co-ordinating the constant review and repair of the fabric of the building. Thank you to our hard-working warden.

There have been several repairs to various parts of the building as guided by our Quinquennial report and observation. Our bells and clock were taken from the tower to be repaired under faculty and this work was completed in 2024.

James Ford of Clague LLP continues to be our inspecting architect.

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The hall continued to be rented out during 2024 and this helped us to be able to run various mission initiatives and to gain a vital rental income.

Pastoral Care

Deacon Sue Wilkinson continues to be our Pastoral Care Co-Ordinator for the parish partnership and she oversees the provision of pastoral care. We trained and commissioned several new lay ministers of communion and along with the clergy they have taken a part in the pastoral ministry of our church. Visits were made to the sick and dying as well as opportunities given for people to discuss their cares and concerns. A bereavement group was trialled by the parish partnership in the new care home on the top of Decoy Drive.

Children and Youth

During 2024 we continued to run Messy Church activities, a big thank you to all those involved.

A Children’s Cross service was held on Good Friday.

We also held our annual crib service which was particularly well attended.

Engagement with Lower Willingdon and Oakwood schools occurred over the advent and Christmas period.

We introduced ‘Encounter’ on the last Sunday of the month, starting in May, and this proved to be a very successful addition to our worship. We have a worship band in which some of our young people play and we also have attracted a number of families to worship with us.

Mission, Discipleship and Evangelism

Alongside all of the mission, discipleship and evangelistic work detailed in other parts of this report we:

• were pleased to participate in the Eastbourne Inspiring Angel’s project in the lead up to Christmas, which allowed us to help share the faith with those across the town alongside other churches from different denominations.

• also supported Family Support Work and the food bank.

• Three adults were confirmed.

• Have run our usual advent and lent courses (seeing good stable attendance) along with spiritual study days, two pilgrimages and special services. In 2024, a lay-led Bible study group also began.

Community Events and Engagement

• A pantomime was held in January 2024 and a good time was had by all!

• A summer fair was held in June 2024 which helped us to engage with the local community and raise some funds.

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• ‘Grace’ continued to be edited by Fr. Adam, and this provided a source of news and information along with some humour to members of our worshipping community and the wider parish.

Financial Review

The Parochial Church Council had previously agreed that the accounts should be prepared and presented on a Receipts and Payments basis, rather than on the previous Accruals basis.

During the year the PCC reviewed the allocations made to the Designated Funds and agreed to restructure them, transferring some funds back to the General Fund. This was done in year, and the details are noted on pages AFR/5 & AFR/6 in the Treasurer’s Annual Finance Report.

We started the year with a combined bank and investment balances of £379,177 and ended the year with £333,672, a reduction £45,505, mainly due to the final payment of £33,111 for the Bells replacement work from Restricted Funds.

Receipts

Receipts for 2024 were £165,893, an increase of £21,995 on 2023 (£143,898 ) helped by a generous £20,000 Legacy.

Payments

Payments for 2024 were £202,346, a reduction of £21,660 on 2023 (£224,006) , the main difference being the reduced General Fund maintenance costs of £20,465.

Our Parish Share payment of to the Diocese again represents 114% of our Parish Ministry Costs and continues to present a huge and daunting commitment.

The work on the renovation of the tower bells and repairs to the tower clock completed in 2024 with a payment of £33,111. There is £2,500 left in the Bells Renovation Fund which can be used for future maintenance work as required.

During the year Alpha Payroll Ltd were asked to maintain the accounts in addition to the payroll work they already undertake. This has been a huge undertaking as the marrying up of accounting practices with the complex recording needs of the church have proved difficult. The work to fully migrate and implement appropriate processes will continue into 2025.

Reserves Policy

During the year the PCC regularly reviewed the purpose and value of Restricted, Designated and Unrestricted funds. The usual policy is to ensure that the PCC maintains a year end closing balance of at least 3 months' worth of average Unrestricted Funds expenditure.

The Unrestricted Funds expenditure for 2024 was £164,284, giving a monthly average of £13,690, and therefore a reserve of £41,070 is the minimum required. The closing balance of Unrestricted Funds at £224,205 is more than sufficient.

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Based on this the PCC can consider additional expenditure in 2025 to deal with some of the outstanding 2022 Quinquennial Report work details of which can be found in the Churchwarden’s report.

Safeguarding

The parish continues to review and update all safeguarding procedures, following the current diocesan guidelines including implementing ‘Simple Quality Protects’ (SQP). The Parochial Church Council fully recognises its duty to have due regard to the House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Volunteers

The PCC wishes to thank all those who have volunteered in any way over the course 2024 in helping keep things running.

In particular it wishes to thank Stephanie Anderson (up until the APCM) and Trevor Amey for their tireless work in the maintenance of the fabric of the buildings and work as wardens in 2024. Thank you also to Alan Benstead for his work as stewardship officer.

The PCC also thank:

• The team of volunteers for their work on the churchyard.

• The flower team for the stunning creations they make.

• Those who clean the church and care for the linen.

• Those who set up for services.

• Our servers and welcomers who help keep things running smoothly.

• Those who help with messy church.

• Our social committee for all their work on providing entertainment and food throughout the year.

• Our bell ringers who enthusiastically announce our worship to all in earshot!

• Annabel and all those who work so hard on the annual pantomime.

• Our lay ministry team who do such a good job visiting people and distributing the chalice at communion.

• Our honourary assistant clergy and readers for their hard work and care.

• Our musical director and choir for the beauty they bring to our worship.

• Our worship band and singers at Encounter

Structure, Governance and Management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At both PCCs consists of the Priest in Charge, churchwardens, and elected members. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and those who are confirmed are encouraged stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including decisions on how the funds of the PCCs are to be spent. All members are made aware of their obligations as Charity Trustees and their responsibility to uphold safeguarding practices.

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The PCCs meet no less than once every three months plus hold an Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Administrative Information

The parish of Willingdon consists of St Mary, the virgin, which is situated on Church Street, Willingdon. It is part of the Diocese of Chichester within the Church of England. The correspondence address is the Parish Office, St Mary, the virgin, Willingdon, BN20 9HT. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and a charity excepted from registration with the Charity Commission.

There are ? people currently on the electoral roll of the parish.

PCC members who have served from the 1[st] January 2023 until the 31[st] December 2023

Priest in Charge and Chair: The Revd Adam Ransom (Ex-Officio) Associate Vicar: The Reverend Danny Pegg (Ex-Officio) Associate Vicar: The Reverend Sue Wilkinson (Ex-Officio) Treasurer Vacant Wardens: Trevor Amey (Ex-Officio) (Vice Chair) Stephanie Anderson (until APCM)

Representatives of the Deanery Synod: Olaf Hoag (Ex-Officio) Paul Martin (Ex-Officio) Brian Waters (Ex officio) General Synod Member: Tina Nay (Ex-Officio) Elected Members: Stephanie Anderson Sheela Wilson Lynne Lorraine Chris Robinson Martin Gibb

Co-opted members: Anthony Wilson (from APCM) Jeremy Rowett (PTO lay reader) Lyn Bishop (PTO lay reader)

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This report was accepted by a majority of the PCC on

Signed: Fr. Adam Ransom Willingdon PCC Chair

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